Rear fender compartment for spare tire



" Feb. 11, 1958 B. WALKER ,8

REAR FENIJER CQMPARTMENT FOR SPARE TIRE Original Filed 001:. 11, 1952United States Patent REAR FENDER COMPARTMENT FOR SPARE TIRE BrooksWalker, Piedmont, Calif.

Original application October 11, 1952, Serial No. 314,265, now PatentNo. 2,773,719, dated December 11, 1956. Divided and this applicationDecember 19, 1955, Serial No. 557,818

6 Claims. (Cl. 296-373) This invention pertains to an improvement in amotor vehicle and particularly to an improved compartment within theportion of the rear fender rearwardly of the rear wheel or in theportion of the vehicle body rearwardly of the rear wheel; saidcompartment being accessible by opening a portion of the rear fender;the locking of the rear fender in place being accomplished from a hoodlock type of control preferably operated from within the normal rearluggage compartment, thus eliminating additional means of locking thespare tire when located in said compartment other than the rear decklock. Such rear fender compartment will, in general, be outside theregular frame section extending inside and rearwardly of the rear tires.This application is a division of application Serial No. 314,265, filedOctober 11, 1952, now Patent No. 2,773,719.

This compartment may be adapted to receive a spare tire, battery,luggage, etc. In previous constructions the spare tire has generallybeen located in the luggage compartment or at the exterior of thevehicle. This construction allows the space at the rear of the rearwheels to be used to carry the spare tire or luggage and provides accessby opening the fender somewhat like a hood opens to provide access tothe spare tire and wheel in this compartment. It allows readilydetachable means, such as a removable hinge pin or the like, forremoving the rear fenders for replacement or repair in case of fenderdamage. It also allows the rear fenders to come down over the rearwheels without needing wheel pants as now used on Cadillacs and othermodern automobiles. These movable rear fenders allow ready access forchanging rear tires and wheels, working on rear brakes, springs andputting on chains. To install chains on present cars where the fendersalmost cover the rear wheels and the fenders are not removable is verydifficult, compared to the ease of attaching tire chains with thisinvention, after the fenders have been either moved or removed.

Other features of this invention will be more particularly pointed outin the attached specifications and claims.

I have shown my invention in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1shows a side elevation of the rear portion of a vehicle incorporatingthis invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view from the front of the vehicle of one rearcorner of the vehicle taken at section 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one form of fender locking mechanismsuch as is shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

On all views like numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts.

On Figs. 1, 2, and 3 we show a vehicle body having a rear wheel fender11, a rear bumper 13, a tail light 14, a spare tire mounted on bracket19 by bolt 19a. Bracket 19 is in turn mounted on the car frame 9 orother suitably rigid portion of the body, possibly just a slight recessto fit the tire in the metal wall between the luggage compartment 25 andthe rear fender spare tire compartment or by bolting the tire againstbrackets that fit the spare tire such as brackets 26 and 27.

The rear fender 11 of this car is hinged at its lower edge like aCadillac fender pants at a point near the front edge of the rear bumper13 and near the lower rear corner of the rear body door or at a pointpreferably forward of the rear wheel. The top of the fender is engagedby two or more clamps such as 16a of fender lock rod 16 and held inlocked position by past center toggle 23 and handle 23a which arepivoted to the car body 10 by bracket 21. Link 20 ties toggle arm 23 tocrank 16b of shaft 16. When handle 23a is raised after unlocking andopening the luggage compartment door 10a, the

right rear fender 11 will be unlocked along its upper edge adjacent tobody 10 and free to be lowered toward the ground as shown in Fig. 2 orremoved completely from the vehicle. The tail light 14 is preferablyattached to the body 10 with a lower edge 14a adapted to engage anddisengage said rear fender 11. When fender 11 is swung about its pivots11a at the forward and rearward edges of the fender on the pivot anddisconnect line, the spare tire can then be easily removed and the reartire can also be easily accessible for changing, or forworking on ornear the rear tire and wheel, or for putting on tire chains, etc.

Where the term luggage compartment has been used, it is understood thatwith rear engine design the compartment could house the engine with orwithout luggage.

I do not wish in any way to limit myself to the exact details or mode ofoperation set forth in the specifications and drawings without departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention which is set forth in thefollowing claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A vehicle having a body, rear wheels, a portion of said body coveringsaid rear wheels and forming a first compartment in back of said rearwheels, means in said first compartment for supporting therein aninflated spare tire and rim assembly substantially vertically andsubstantially in line with one of said rear wheels, a second compartmentlocated largely rearwardly and between said rear wheels, a centrallylocated door at the rear of said vehicle, said door providing accessonly to said second compartment, a partition separating said firstcompartment from said second compartment, a side wall portion of saidbody mounted on hinges along its lower edges generally parallel to thelongitudinal axis of said vehicle and serving as a sole door to saidfirst compartment, and locking means for said first compartment door,said locking means extending into and being operable only from saidsecond compartment.

2. A vehicle having a body, rear wheels, a portion of said body coveringsaid rear wheels, a first compartment directly in back of one of saidrear wheels having means to retain an inflated spare tire and rimassembly in a vertical position, a side wall of said first compartmentmounted on horizontal hinges generally parallel to the longitudinal axisof said vehicle, a second compartment at the rear of said vehicle besidesaid first compartment and separated therefrom, a door to said secondcompartment at the center rear thereof, and locking means for said firstcompartment side wall, said locking means having control means thereforextending into and operable from said second compartment.

3. A vehicle body having a rear wheel housing and a plurality of storagecompartments, one of said storage compartments being disposed rearwardlyof and substantially aligned with the rear wheel housing, another ofsaid storage compartments being disposed adjacent to and separate fromsaid one storage compartment, support means in said one storagecompartment for supporting an article placed therein, said vehicle bodyfurther having a side wall portion serving as a partial closure memberfor said one storage compartment, mounting means adjacent the lower edgeof said side wall portion hingeably mounting said side wall portion formovement between a first position wherein said side wall portionpartially closes said one storage compartment and a second positionwhich permits access thereto, and locking means for securing saidclosure member in said first position, said locking means extending intoand being operable from inside the said another storage compartment.

4. The structure as set forth in claim 3, wherein said one storagecompartment is of suflicient size to carry an inflated spare tire andrim assembly in a substantially vertical position and substantiallyaligned with the rear wheel housing of the body.

5. The structure as set forth in claim 3 wherein the article placed inthe said one storage compartment comprises a spare tire and wheelassembly, said wheel having apertures therein by which said spare tireand wheel assembly is supported in said one storage compartment and saidsupport means includes securing means passing through at least one ofsaid apertures of the wheel.

6. A vehicle body having a rear wheel housing and a storage compartment,said storage compartment being disposed rearwardly of and substantiallyaligned with said rear wheel housing, support means in said storage 4compartment for supporting an article placed therein, said vehicle bodyfurther having a side wall portion serving as a partial common closuremember for both said storage compartment and said rear wheel housing,hinge means adjacent the lower edge of said side wall portion moveablymounting said side Wall portion for movement between a first positionwherein said side wall portion partially closes both said storagecompartment and said rear Wheel housing and a second position whichpermits access to an article in said storage compartment and a rearwheel mounted in said rear wheel housing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,196,225 Morrison Apr. 9, 1940 2,447,397 Craig Aug. 17, 1948 2,606,625Paton Aug. 12, 1952 2,655,389 Soroka Oct. 13, 1953 2,700,572 TorranceJan. 25, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 631,921 Great Britain Nov. 11, 19491,064,655 France Dec. 30, 1953

